By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, May 2: A Tibetan monk has been arrested earlier today in Ngaba County, Sichuan Province in Eastern Tibet. According to reports, the monk named Thubten staged a protest on the main street of the Ngaba town, named locally as “martyr’s lane” carrying a portrait of the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama.
According to a Tibetan named Lhasey Sonam residing in Switzerland, around 3 pm this afternoon (May 2), the monk staged a lone protest. “Sources inside Tibet have told me that a monk has gone on a solo protest this afternoon. Details such as his monastery or his demands could not be ascertained right now as he was arrested shortly after the protest,” Sonam said.
The monk believed to be in his late teens or early twenties was taken away by local Chinese police. His demands and the wordings of his slogans are unknown. His whereabouts also could not been ascertained as of now. By practice, authorities have been known to hold protestors incommunicado in detention for months.
Solo protests are seen by experts as an increasingly viable means to protest against Chinese rule and the policies implemented inside Tibet. Due to the criminalization of self-immolations by Chinese law and the harsh punishments including imprisonment meted out to family members by Chinese authorities, more and more incidences of solo protests are emerging from inside Tibet. Observers also believe that the Chinese government’s restriction on the assembly of Tibetans, solo protests emerge adding spontaneity to their actions without the need for premeditated planning among protestors.
In the last few months, over 10 Tibetans have staged solo protest against the Chinese rule in Tibet and called for ‘Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet’ and ‘Freedom in Tibet’.
Ngaba is a hotbed for protests against the Chinese regime and self immolation protests since 2009. So far 143 Tibetans have resorted to self immolation as a form of protest.
